Wadcutter- Resize Brass or Not

pabner

pabner

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I have been loading .38 wadcutters for a couple of years without any problems.

Read some where the other day, that some guy are not resizing their brass in an effort to not over work the brass. Revolvers Only.

Any opinions on this?
 
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Baloney. Revolvers are not bolt action bench rest rifles, where that technique is used with specially prepared cases. Might be able to get by with it in a specific gun, but why?
Sizing the case is what keeps the WC in the case (not the crimp) and assures it will fit in whichever revolver I use that day.
If cases are failing prematurely, then adjust the flare and crimp for minimal working. It is the mouths that split most of the time, not the lower case.
 
Usually cases have to be belled a little to let the soft HBwc LEAD bullet enter the case without shaving lead off the bullet by the sharp brass case's edge.

If your cases expand enough in your cylinder to allow you to seat and load bullets..............go for it.

Dies are made for ammo to work in guns.............
What works for you is the main point.

How about a picture of those targets?
 
100 once fired wad cuter brass will last 40 times? That is 4000 rounds for $10. When the brass cracks chunk it. Save the good stuff for a meet. Warps my brain just to think about it. I resize all of mine.
 
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Compromise

A agree with the guys that say mouth splits are the first thing to fail on a straight cartridge. But if you want you can set your dies to get a minimum amount of resizing as long as the cartridges load without a problem. For me, that's full resize.
 
I have been reloading the same 1200 pieces of .38 Special brass for ~9 years now and they do not get overworked by sizing them. Neck tension holds the bullet so IMO you should resize your .38 Special brass each and every time you load them, especially with WC bullets. The crimp it there only to prevent bullet pull...
 
resizing .38 wadcutter brass

Definately resize the brass. The resized case is what holds the bullet in - not the crimp. Flaring will cause case mouths to split so try not to flare them more than .002 over the bullet size.

I have some cases I have reloaded more than 20 time with no problems as w.c rounds are pretty low pressure and really don't stress the brass that much.
 
Ok, here's something to warp your mind about.... HBWC's are about pure lead, and they expand to fit the cylinder throat, no matter what the size relationship is between the bullet and throat diameters... Now, a Double-Ended Wadcutter (DEWC) may or may not expand to fit the cylinder throat, depending on the alloy and powder and the pressure. Since I doubt that most DEWC's that are home cast are anything like dead soft lead, and are usually loaded to low pressure, it stands to reason(?) that they may not expand in the throat.

Now, if the inside diameter of the brass is too small in relation to the bullet, the brass may size the bullet down (I've personally had this happen...measured with a Mic). If the charge/pressure is too light and/or the bullet a wee bit too hard, it may not expand in the cylinder throat, resulting in gas cutting and/or poor accuracy.

I agree that brass tension in important, but.... I have custom expander plugs that expand the brass to .002 less than the bullet diameter Measured after expanding (brass will "spring back a cou;le thou or so depending on the mfg). I size the bullet to .001-2 over the cylinder throat diameter. (Bore diameter is immaterial provided it is smaller than the cylinder throat.)

I've never had a bullet "move" under recoil in the cylinder, even with 168's at 1200fps, and WC's have more surface in contact with brass when seated, therefore more tension.

You might play around with all this, but it will take and exceptionally accurate revolver and shooter to detect improvements.

My shooting buddy from "back in the day" said that a good revolver should hold 3MOA or less with good ammo.

Good luck!
 
NSEGE,
Welcome to the forum.

While HBWC bullets are soft they are not "pure lead". Soft yes but not pure lead like muzzleloader round balls. HBWC bullets are usually ~10 BHN while cast DEWC bullets are usually harder like you said.
 
Did you ever consider partially resizing your cases? Just like maybe the first 1/4 to 3/8". Just enough to grip the bullet, and keep it in place. The unsized portion of the case will fill the cylinder chambers better, and give better alignment to the bore. I did this trick on a Marlin 45 Colt, having an oversized chamber, and it helped a good bit.
 
I have found , the hard way, over the years that there's differences in tolerances with 38spl cylinders among the manufacturers. I tried not F L resizing for awhile and ended up at the range on occasion with reloads you would have had to use a mallet on to get them into the cylinders.
Since then I always re-size and have had no problems. I've also given up counting the number of times I've re-loaded some of these cases and just check them for cracks at the throat.
Jim
 
I took a different approach to my problem. I was getting lead build up in the cylinder and barrel from shooting HBWC reloads, using a standard target load. I pulled several of my HBWC reloads and found the diameter of the bullets had gone from .357/.358" to .354/.355" after being loaded. I checked the Dillon powder die on my Square Deal and found the nose portion of the die that slips into the case to allegedly expand it, was only .353" diameter. No wonder the bullets were being swaged smaller when they were being seated into the cases.

I asked Dillon about this, but never got an answer:mad:, so my Cousin and I made a powder/expander die with the nose being .3565/.357" diameter and slightly longer in length than the Dillon die. Much better, but I wasn't done yet.

I then took the carbide sizing die from the Square Deal, chucked it in a collett on my lathe, and using a diamond impregnated Dremel stone, opened up the sizing die a couple of thousandths, and then polished the die.

Now my cases are not sized down as much, the bullets are not being swaged when seated, and I'm getting little to no leading in the barrel, and a lot less in the cylinder throats. That's my take, your mileage may vary.
 
Resize. The cases last practically forever. You don't need any crimp per se with these, just enough to remove the flare and permit chambering the round.
 
Thanks for the comments.

I have no plans to modify the way I reload. I was just curious. You guys are a wealth of knowledge.

Thanks again.
 
If I'm using cast wadcutters I resize the brass. For swagged HBWCs I might use a Lee Factory Crimp .38 Special die without the crimped ring but generally I don't resize. The Remington .38 Special HBWCs I use measure .360. I use a special wadcutter expander plug available from RCBS on my wadcutter loads too.
 
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